HDD to USB on HU ?!

NIP · 5th August 2006, 13:41

is there a possibility to connect a laptop (small 2.5") USB HDD (hard drive) to the USB ports on the new HDDs ?! if someone has one of these new HUs...can you please try this !? if this works...its a low cost alternative to an ipod...plus imagine the capacities !!

jkdas · 5th August 2006, 13:44

its aint simple. 1) power supply 2) software to read it 3)shox

NIP · 5th August 2006, 14:06

1) laptop external (2.5") HDDs do not require external power...they are powered by the USB cord itself.

2) id the HUs can read music off USB sticks...why not HDDs ?

3) shox...not sure what u mean...but these HDDs come in a metal casing with leather covers and since they're portalbe, they're pretty well built.

NIP · 6th August 2006, 11:46

jk...check this out...found this on the link from your post in
"New Products for 2006 - Stuff to look out for"

KDC-W534UA MP3/WMA/AAC/USB CD Tuner with FREE USB Key
Kenwood units support USB 1.0 and 2.0 devices with less than 500mA current consumption. FAT16 and FAT32 drive file systems are supported. As a general guideline, the maximum number of files which can be stored on the drive is 15,000 filed in up to 500 folders.

Host powered USB hard drives may be supported, although compatibility cannot be guaranteed with all drives.

So technically...USB HDDs are supported !! i'm just dying to actually try this...!!

low_bass_makker · 6th August 2006, 12:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by NIP

So technically...USB HDDs are supported !! i'm just dying to actually try this...!!

yes it can happen but I think nobody in this forum has tried it so i cannot comment on that.

I think it is 100 % posssible and the current requirement are in also range so do go ahead and do post us the results......

Sam Kapasi · 6th August 2006, 13:23

Yes, technically a drive, formatted using FAT32 will work on this HU. But please note, I am sure the current requirement is 100% over 500mA. You will need a 12V-5V adaptor (a simple 7805 based circuit should suffice) that can then be plugged into the USB (2nd plug - if you notice, all portable HDD have a second USB forr additional power), using a female USB pin.
I am 100% sure the HU USB connection will not have enough juice to spin the HDD. Remember it is originally designed for a flash-based memory card, these crequire negligible current.
It's not complicated, but you have to know what to do. Remember, a wrong connection of the eternal power supply will destroy your HDD and your HU

NIP · 6th August 2006, 13:59

no sam...i have an external laptop (2.5") HDD and this one DOES NOT require any additional power. the HDD casing has only one USB out. the USB port on the HU should be enuff to juice it...so in theory..this should work well !!

you can buy any brand of HDD...buy a casing (enclosure) for it (comes with an art-leather cover) and u can have anywhere between 40GB to 160GB of music at your disposal !! heres what it looks like:

jkdas · 6th August 2006, 14:03

i still dont think it would work that way. Someone has to tell the HU how to read/decode the data.

if you find a way, tell me though

i have a HDD waiting!

edit: Ipod etc has mp3/other media files which are fed to teh HU the way the HU will read/understand it. Also, how will teh HU knw where to start reading from? Data are stored in an order and bla bla...

edit 2: it reads frm ALL USB sticks? or just mp3/WMA/AAC supported sticks? And promise me that you use taht stick with an earphne to hear song and thers no software in it.

NIP · 6th August 2006, 14:05

jk...the HUs read off the 'USB Sticks'...so it must read the data from the HDD (FAT16 and FAT32 drive file systems are supported) in the same way....!!!

low_bass_makker · 6th August 2006, 15:48

the hdd used will be having the current rating of approx 0.47 amps will diff from model to model but will remain in this range now the hu will take devices upto .5 amps and the rating of the hdd is less and all the max the hdd will take is .47 in idle condition the load will be quite less about .15 to .2 amps (this can be check out from any hdd manufacture website) so the hu will be comfortable for the hdd.

now the question arises

"bail ke galey main ganti kayn bhandey"

tsk1979 · 6th August 2006, 15:59

It will work but for the power supply part.
Try this. Take an old compact laptop(not the newer ones), and plug in 2.5" external drive. You will see a message pop up saying "Power surge on USB port" and your drive will not be recognized. Due to this there are two usb points at the comp end for these kinda casings. So you draw power from 2 usb ports simultaniosly. A HU will have only one USB post.
So you have two ways to go around it.
1. Make your own power supply, but your casing may or may not support external power, since they are designed to be used with laptops, and latptops usually have 2 or more USB ports, even older ones
2. Buy a powered USB hub. Connect the HUB to HU and then connect the HDD to the hub. This is clean solution but you will need to build a power supply for this hub. Usually standard 12->5V car adapter kits are available which can do this.

As for the 0.47 current, remember your casing will also consume power. Its not a good idea to run HU USB circuit at its limits continuously. But then it may work with some HUs. For example on my current laptop(E1505) I dont need to connect the HDD to two USB ports, I can connect it to just one, but on the company laptop(Latitude D800) I would need to connect to 2 USB ports to not get the power surge message.

low_bass_makker · 6th August 2006, 16:53

Yes Tanveer is right about the usb power surge requirment. I have old laptop without usb 2 port so i had to buy a pcimca slot usb 2 port when i connect a self power usb device it does not work because of the power shortage so i have to connect the other usb lead into the other usb port for the power shortage requirment to fullfil.

But in this case i think it will work we just have to try....

tsk1979 · 6th August 2006, 18:18

To be sure it works, get a 1.5" HDD instead. Even lower power requirements. Or if your collection is less than 700 songs, a 4GB Flash card plugged into a USB Flash card reader will do just fine.

spadival · 6th August 2006, 18:43

u r better off buying an ipod and an HU with an aux.. I feel this combo will be cheaper and more reliable than a HU with USB + HDD ..

navin · 6th August 2006, 22:07

I use an ipod but to add a bit to the HDD issue...
a) even when the HDD works with one USB port it works faster if 2 are used.
b) there are casings available that allow an external power supply to be used.
c) a HDD wil give you a huge library for very cheap (a 80-100GB hard disk and a casing costs about 6K) but you might not get the same level of control and search functions compared to a Ipod and a Ipod adapter.

5th August 2006, 13:41	#1
NIP Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,180 Thanked: 152 Times View My Garage	HDD to USB on HU ?! is there a possibility to connect a laptop (small 2.5") USB HDD (hard drive) to the USB ports on the new HDDs ?! if someone has one of these new HUs...can you please try this !? if this works...its a low cost alternative to an ipod...plus imagine the capacities !!
	() Thanks

5th August 2006, 13:44	#2
jkdas Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Thiruvananthapu Posts: 9,687 Thanked: 1,492 Times View My Garage	its aint simple. 1) power supply 2) software to read it 3)shox
	() Thanks

5th August 2006, 14:06	#3
NIP Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,180 Thanked: 152 Times View My Garage	1) laptop external (2.5") HDDs do not require external power...they are powered by the USB cord itself. 2) id the HUs can read music off USB sticks...why not HDDs ? 3) shox...not sure what u mean...but these HDDs come in a metal casing with leather covers and since they're portalbe, they're pretty well built.
	() Thanks

6th August 2006, 11:46	#4
NIP Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,180 Thanked: 152 Times View My Garage	jk...check this out...found this on the link from your post in "New Products for 2006 - Stuff to look out for" KDC-W534UA MP3/WMA/AAC/USB CD Tuner with FREE USB Key Kenwood units support USB 1.0 and 2.0 devices with less than 500mA current consumption. FAT16 and FAT32 drive file systems are supported. As a general guideline, the maximum number of files which can be stored on the drive is 15,000 filed in up to 500 folders. Host powered USB hard drives may be supported, although compatibility cannot be guaranteed with all drives. So technically...USB HDDs are supported !! i'm just dying to actually try this...!!
	() Thanks

6th August 2006, 13:23	#6
Sam Kapasi Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mumbai (but wat Posts: 6,997 Thanked: 2,378 Times View My Garage	Yes, technically a drive, formatted using FAT32 will work on this HU. But please note, I am sure the current requirement is 100% over 500mA. You will need a 12V-5V adaptor (a simple 7805 based circuit should suffice) that can then be plugged into the USB (2nd plug - if you notice, all portable HDD have a second USB forr additional power), using a female USB pin. I am 100% sure the HU USB connection will not have enough juice to spin the HDD. Remember it is originally designed for a flash-based memory card, these crequire negligible current. It's not complicated, but you have to know what to do. Remember, a wrong connection of the eternal power supply will destroy your HDD and your HU Last edited by Sam Kapasi : 6th August 2006 at 13:24.
	() Thanks

6th August 2006, 13:59	#7
NIP Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,180 Thanked: 152 Times View My Garage	no sam...i have an external laptop (2.5") HDD and this one DOES NOT require any additional power. the HDD casing has only one USB out. the USB port on the HU should be enuff to juice it...so in theory..this should work well !! you can buy any brand of HDD...buy a casing (enclosure) for it (comes with an art-leather cover) and u can have anywhere between 40GB to 160GB of music at your disposal !! heres what it looks like:
	() Thanks

6th August 2006, 14:03	#8
jkdas Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Thiruvananthapu Posts: 9,687 Thanked: 1,492 Times View My Garage	i still dont think it would work that way. Someone has to tell the HU how to read/decode the data. if you find a way, tell me though i have a HDD waiting! edit: Ipod etc has mp3/other media files which are fed to teh HU the way the HU will read/understand it. Also, how will teh HU knw where to start reading from? Data are stored in an order and bla bla... edit 2: it reads frm ALL USB sticks? or just mp3/WMA/AAC supported sticks? And promise me that you use taht stick with an earphne to hear song and thers no software in it. Last edited by jkdas : 6th August 2006 at 14:14.
	() Thanks

6th August 2006, 14:05	#9
NIP Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,180 Thanked: 152 Times View My Garage	jk...the HUs read off the 'USB Sticks'...so it must read the data from the HDD (FAT16 and FAT32 drive file systems are supported) in the same way....!!! Last edited by NIP : 6th August 2006 at 14:07.
	() Thanks

6th August 2006, 15:48	#10
low_bass_makker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Faridabad Posts: 6,815 Thanked: 305 Times View My Garage	the hdd used will be having the current rating of approx 0.47 amps will diff from model to model but will remain in this range now the hu will take devices upto .5 amps and the rating of the hdd is less and all the max the hdd will take is .47 in idle condition the load will be quite less about .15 to .2 amps (this can be check out from any hdd manufacture website) so the hu will be comfortable for the hdd. now the question arises "bail ke galey main ganti kayn bhandey"
	() Thanks

6th August 2006, 15:59	#11
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,717 Thanked: 22,825 Times View My Garage	It will work but for the power supply part. Try this. Take an old compact laptop(not the newer ones), and plug in 2.5" external drive. You will see a message pop up saying "Power surge on USB port" and your drive will not be recognized. Due to this there are two usb points at the comp end for these kinda casings. So you draw power from 2 usb ports simultaniosly. A HU will have only one USB post. So you have two ways to go around it. 1. Make your own power supply, but your casing may or may not support external power, since they are designed to be used with laptops, and latptops usually have 2 or more USB ports, even older ones 2. Buy a powered USB hub. Connect the HUB to HU and then connect the HDD to the hub. This is clean solution but you will need to build a power supply for this hub. Usually standard 12->5V car adapter kits are available which can do this. As for the 0.47 current, remember your casing will also consume power. Its not a good idea to run HU USB circuit at its limits continuously. But then it may work with some HUs. For example on my current laptop(E1505) I dont need to connect the HDD to two USB ports, I can connect it to just one, but on the company laptop(Latitude D800) I would need to connect to 2 USB ports to not get the power surge message.
	() Thanks

6th August 2006, 16:53	#12
low_bass_makker Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Faridabad Posts: 6,815 Thanked: 305 Times View My Garage	Yes Tanveer is right about the usb power surge requirment. I have old laptop without usb 2 port so i had to buy a pcimca slot usb 2 port when i connect a self power usb device it does not work because of the power shortage so i have to connect the other usb lead into the other usb port for the power shortage requirment to fullfil. But in this case i think it will work we just have to try....
	() Thanks

6th August 2006, 18:18	#13
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,717 Thanked: 22,825 Times View My Garage	To be sure it works, get a 1.5" HDD instead. Even lower power requirements. Or if your collection is less than 700 songs, a 4GB Flash card plugged into a USB Flash card reader will do just fine.
	() Thanks

6th August 2006, 18:43	#14
spadival Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Melbourne, AU Posts: 1,773 Thanked: 26 Times View My Garage	u r better off buying an ipod and an HU with an aux.. I feel this combo will be cheaper and more reliable than a HU with USB + HDD ..
	() Thanks

6th August 2006, 22:07	#15
navin Team-BHP Support Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 25,199 Thanked: 9,304 Times	I use an ipod but to add a bit to the HDD issue... a) even when the HDD works with one USB port it works faster if 2 are used. b) there are casings available that allow an external power supply to be used. c) a HDD wil give you a huge library for very cheap (a 80-100GB hard disk and a casing costs about 6K) but you might not get the same level of control and search functions compared to a Ipod and a Ipod adapter.
	() Thanks